Family Academy of Music Music enriches families    MISSION STATEMENT The mission of the Family Academy of Music is to provide a quality music education for children and families. The focus is on making music together with highly trained staff as well as parents in an effort to promote lifelong participation in the making of music. PHILOSOPHY The philosophy of Family Academy of Music is to capture the musical imagination of the very young child with quality musical literature and movement activities. With older children, the goals are to provide a process where the students will interact with quality musical materials while working together with peers to create musical performances and acquire musical skills of reading, notating, creating and performing. Although the Family Academy is a small school, there is a great interest in providing opportunities for the special needs child in an integrated class setting. HISTORY The school was founded in 1997 by Susan Leavitt in order to provide families in the north central part of Connecticut with an exciting music education program for newborn to teenagers. There has been a great deal of brain research recently underscoring the importance of early exposure to the act of music making, not just listening. The classes offered in this school bring children from the very beginnings of musical acquisition to levels of sophisticated vocal performance. Treble Troubadours has performed music in Stafford, Ellington and Windham. Additionally, some of these students have participated in the American Choral Directors Association Children’s Honors Chorus under the baton of nationally known conductors. The school provides classes throughout the academic year during the day for infants and toddlers, and in the late afternoons and early evenings for school aged children and working parents. The summer camp, Act Out, Sing and Shout is a two week experience using drama, music and dance as a vehicle for creating a performance piece around a curriculum idea. Recent productions have focused on the literature, music and dance of the Native American and African cultures. Family Academy of Music is an exciting place to nurture the soul of a child and encourage his/her creative expression through music making.